174 i). S. :ylARGOLIOUTH^ D.LITT.^ F.B.A.^ ON THE FUTURE OF 



prepare the student's mind for the world in three ways besides^ 

 It should give him a reasonable acquaintance with both the things 

 and the men among whom he moves, and fuTnish him with the 

 means of communication with the latter. Hence we get as the 

 main subjects of a curriculum science, history, and living 

 languages, each of which admits of unlimited pursuit.* It is, 

 of course, the case that as it is the schools devote much of their 

 time to teaching all three, and that skilful methods have been 

 devised for facilitating instruction in all branches of these 

 subjects. The expulsion of the classical languages from the 

 schools and their relegation to institutions devoted to research 

 will, however, permit of the extension of these subjects and the 

 maintenance of a higher standard in all. Whether these different 

 types of study discipline the mind in different ways or not seems 

 to be of little importance, for we are not modifying the mind, but 

 furnishing it ; not conferring on it aptitudes which it does not 

 possess, but utiliz'.ng those wherewith it has been equipped by 

 nature. It is clear that in the acquisition of all both the memory 

 and the thinking power have to be exercised, though in different 

 degrees. It is fairly certain that the interest of the student is 

 naturally more aroused by one subject or division of a subject 

 than by another, and that the future linguists, historians and men 

 of science possess natural aptitudes in these various directions. 

 It is not, however, the purpose of the school, though it may well 

 be that of the university, to turn out linguists, historians and 

 men of science. The school should communicate as much of 

 each as will tend to promote the student's happiness and utility 

 when he enters the world of business. 



In the study of history it is clear that the nearer the approach 

 to our own times the more copious and detailed is the material, 

 and that while in order to know our way the history of our own 

 and the preceding century is of the greatest consequence, there 

 are also periods, both in the national history and in that of other 

 existing and extinct nations, which especially arrest the attention. 

 We are fortunate in possessing in the English language so many 

 historical classics, works on a large scale dealing with a series of 

 periods in our own history and that of other European countries, 

 which render it possible to pursue this particular study and 

 that of the humanities simultaneously ; such works are alike 



* K- Richmond, Education for Liberty ^ p. 26, arrives at this trichotomy 

 by another method. 



